Monday, 1 June 2015

It's summer at last and we've seen some lovely sunny days already, the bedding plants are blooming and the summer clothing is coming out. Isn't it nice to see a bit of sunshine.

Barbara has been taking a break for a couple of weeks during May, visiting her son Mark in San Francisco and then onto New Mexico. I'm sure the rest has worked wonders for her and of course we all look forward to seeing what new ideas she has. Check out Barbara's blog if you want to catch up with her travels and of course the daily words of wisdom and step by step tutorials, not forgetting YouTube Tuesdays.

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Just a reminder that Barbara is on our TV screens on Create and Craft between 09.00 and 11.00 on Sunday 7th June. As usual there will be a live chat on the Clarity facebook page with all the positive chat whilst Barbara is crafting away on the TV. Make sure you've got a cuppa ready and waiting so that you don't have to leave the sofa!

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The lucky winner of the £50 Clarity voucher and our top 5 will be announced on Friday. Will you be one of the lucky winners?

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Here's the theme for our new challenge which will run throughout June:

Boys, Boys, Boys

(using Clarity stamps/stencils ONLY)

The men in our lives are always the most difficult ones to create a card or a piece of artwork for aren't they? With this challenge we hope that the design team can give you some inspiration to make your job that little bit easier. There are plenty of stamps and stencils that can be used along with your own embellishments, so go on, give it a go. You could win a £50 voucher if you are randomly selected as our winner at the end of the month and become our guest designer for the next challenge.

Please remember to read the rules to avoid your entry being disqualified.

Hi, my name's Michelle, I live and work in Nottingham and have been crafting in one form or another for nearly two decades. Like many of us I started out with basic card making and over the years have branched out to other techniques with an expanding collection of crafty stash over spilling until it fills at least one room of your house! I've been a fan of stamping for years and, thanks to my friend Karen, I heard about the lovely Barbara Gray, the Clarity stamp club and Nottingham workshops last year.

Barbara and the Clarity workshops, have opened my eyes to new techniques and projects which I've loved and now incorporate into my crafting. This includes stencils, which to be honest I never considered before, but now use all of the time and of course the shaving foam technique which formed the background for my April challenge card.

Being a typical lady crafter who loves birds, butterflies and fairies, I did find this months theme a challenge, but enjoyed taxing my brain!!

I hope you you enjoy this challenge and good luck with your entries.

Happy crafting!!!!!!

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There are several ways of entering the challenge:

BLOG - if you have a blog, click on the blue froggy link below and follow the instructions, remembering to link to your blog post and not just your blog

EMAIL - if you don't have a blog you can send a photo of your project to us and we'll enter it for you

claritystampchallenge@hotmail.com

If you have any questions relating to this challenge please don't hesitate to contact us. We will answer as quickly as we can in the hope that we can make the Clarity Stamp Challenge go from strength to strength. We can't do this without you!

We hope you have fun with this challenge and we can't wait to see your projects. You have until 20.00 on 30th June (GMT) to enter.